Healthy teeth are important to your child's overall health. From the time your child is born, there are things you can do to promote healthy teeth and prevent cavities. For babies, you should clean teeth with a soft, clean cloth or baby's toothbrush. Avoid putting the baby to bed with a bottle and check teeth regularly for spots or stains. For all children, you should
Additionally, these patients have neglected their general health and have more medical problems than a comparable segment of the general population. When this trend is coupled with the acute oral problems which emerge due to poor oral health, dentists must consider the patient’s medical problem(s) and any corresponding prescribed medications before dental treatment can be initiated. This article will be a feature some of the most frequently occurring medical problems which I have seen among correctional patients, their impact on the ability to provide dental treatment, and their direct and indirect consequences upon oral health.
Hypertension is the most common chronic illness which afflicts the patients I treat. Although this disease afflicts 50% of patients 65 years of age and older, it is by no means restricted to the geriatric population. It is mandatory to take vital signs on all patients before the initiation of any dental treatment, especially treatment which is invasive. If blood pressure is elevated, a decision must be made whether to defer treatment especially for surgical procedures. The literature suggests treatment deferral at various cutoffs for systolic and diastolic blood pressure ranging from 160 to 180 and 100 to 110 respectively. I use the lower end of both ranges, e.g. 160/100 mm hg, as the point at which I will not proceed with oral surgery. Patients that have elevated blood pressure levels should be referred to the medical department for further evaluation and treatment to controlled levels before proceeding with dental treatment. Additionally, it is essential that vital signs are recorded before any surgical procedure for all patients, not just those know to have hypertension since epinephrine, an endogenous catecholamine, is added to local anesthetics to prolong anesthesia and aid in hemostasis. Epinephrine must be used cautiously in hypertensive and cardiac patients as it can raise the blood pressure.
